- Continued to improve absolute environmental performance across energy, water and waste metrics while growing the business in 2019; has remained carbon neutral for six years in a row
- Advanced health equity and diversity goals; 46% of Biogen's director-level positions and above are held by women globally
- Expanded Global Reporting Initiative report to include disclosures aligned with Sustainable Accounting Standards Board guidelines
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 20, 2020(Nasdaq: BIIB) today released its 2019 Corporate Responsibility Report that demonstrated continuous progress across several environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics. The report outlines the company's long-term commitment to corporate responsibility by taking a multi-stakeholder approach to business decisions, creating an inclusive culture, reducing its environmental footprint and increasing reporting transparency on ESG issues.
"In 2019 we continued to advance our health equity and diversity goals while improving our environmental performance across energy, water and waste metrics, and we are striving to do more," said Michel Vounatsos, Chief Executive Officer at Biogen. "Today, as we collectively face the challenges posed by the global COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of developing and assuring access to new therapies for patients in need is more evident than ever. For us, that includes our aim of accelerating innovation, and at the same time reducing our environmental footprint and contributing to a more sustainable future for all of our stakeholders."
As the first company in the life sciences industry to be carbon neutral, Biogen has continued to be recognized as an environmental leader, and is committing to bring its climate programs in line with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) targets to keep the global temperature rise to below 1.5°Celsius. In 2019 the company realized an absolute reduction of water use by nearly 3 percent, hazardous and nonhazardous waste by more than 7 percent, supply chain emissions by 3 percent and non-renewable energy by 1.6 percent, all while increasing full year total revenues by 7 percent versus the prior year.
Among other report highlights, Biogen advanced health equity goals for its clinical trials to help better meet the needs of underserved patients globally and continued to offer its early access program to treat patients. The company also made progress towards its goals for diversity and inclusion in the workplace, with nearly 1/3 of director-level positions and above held by people from racial and ethnic minority groups in the U.S. as of December 31, 2019.
Building on the company's 2019 community engagement efforts, the Biogen Foundation committed $10 million for COVID-19 relief, including $4 million to non-profit organizations and health systems in Massachusetts, to address urgent needs, expand testing and help ease the burden on health systems across Massachusetts, North Carolina, the U.S. and the rest of the world. For several non-profit organizations and health systems, the Biogen Foundation's support was the first to be received and helped catalyze significant additional funds. Biogen employees have also donated more than $300,000 to non-profit organizations and are volunteering in their communities.
Our Corporate Responsibility Report can be found by visiting our Year in Review website.
About Biogen
At Biogen, our mission is clear: we are pioneers in neuroscience. Biogen discovers, develops and delivers worldwide innovative therapies for people living with serious neurological and neurodegenerative diseases as well as related therapeutic adjacencies. One of the world's first global biotechnology companies, Biogen was founded in 1978 by Charles Weissmann, Heinz Schaller, Kenneth Murray and Nobel Prize winners Walter Gilbert and Phillip Sharp. Today Biogen has the leading portfolio of medicines to treat multiple sclerosis, has introduced the first approved treatment for spinal muscular atrophy, commercializes biosimilars of advanced biologics and is focused on advancing research programs in multiple sclerosis and neuroimmunology, Alzheimer's disease and dementia, neuromuscular disorders, movement disorders, ophthalmology, immunology, neurocognitive disorders, acute neurology and pain.
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About the Biogen Foundation
The Biogen Foundation supports access to science education and to essential human services for children and their families in the communities in which Biogen facilities are located. The Biogen Foundation is committed to sparking a passion for science and discovery, supporting effective science education initiatives and strengthening efforts to make science education and science careers accessible to diverse populations.
Biogen Safe Harbor
This news release contains forward-looking statements, including statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, about our strategy and plans; and our ability to achieve our ESG goals, commitments and targets. These statements may be identified by words such as "aim," "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "goal," "intend," "may," "plan," "possible," "potential," "will," "would" and other words and terms of similar meaning. You should not place undue reliance on these statements.
These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in such statements, including without limitation the risks of unexpected hurdles, costs or delays; uncertainty of success in the execution of our strategy and plans; the direct and indirect impact related to the effect of COVID-19 on our business and operations, including sales, expenses, supply chain, manufacturing, research and development costs, clinical trials and employees; and the risks and uncertainties that are described in the Risk Factors section of our most recent annual or quarterly report and in other reports we have filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The foregoing sets forth many, but not all, of the factors that could cause actual results to differ from our expectations in any forward-looking statement. Investors should consider this cautionary statement, as well as the risk factors identified in our most recent annual or quarterly report and in other reports we have filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations and speak only as of the date of this news release. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.
| MEDIA CONTACT : David Caouette + 1 617 679 4945 public.affairs@biogen.com (mailto:public.affairs@biogen.com) | INVESTOR CONTACT: Joe Mara +1 781 464 2442 IR@biogen.com (mailto:IR@biogen.com) |
